Reminiscence
by RainyDayinAstrasia
Summary: *Set after movie* There are common cases where a milk tooth doesn't have an adult replacement: Pitch just happened to have a case just like this. When Tooth realises she has collected one of Pitch's teeth (you know, the one that she punched out), what would she do? Cliché summary, but hey, I'm probably not the only person who has thought of this. Rating might change.
1. Chapter 1: Discovery

**TOOTH**

_*Some weeks after the film's end*_

It had been only a few weeks after the Guardians and I finally defeated Pitch, but the schedules of our lives had begun to resurface. We had each returned to our designated roles: Bunnymund was already preparing for next year's Easter; North ("Christmas is now _once again_ more important than Easter") resumed his work for the upcoming Christmas; Jack had decided to remain in Burgess for a few more days before travelling to Europe; Sandy resumed delivering the much needed dreams to children worldwide; and me? Well, I went back to my palace to bring home my lost fairies and teeth.

The task of returning the millions of collected teeth to my home was as meticulous and laborious as it sounded. But hey, I was just grateful to have everything returned to home. Thanks to all my fairies and the rest of the Guardians, I was able to move all of the teeth from Pitch's lair to the floors of my palace about three weeks ago. Since then, we've been sorting the containers back to their rightful spots.

Sandy, North, Jack and Bunny were huge helpers in the first two weeks. But eventually, they (reluctantly) had to leave the rest to me because of their roles. Jack still had his hands full with Winter; Sandy's job was ongoing, like mine; and North needed to prepare for this year's Christmas. Bunny stayed a little longer since Easter had just recently passed, but once the containers' locations reached further than a rabbit's jump's height, all he could do was sort until there wasn't much left to do. After that, he returned to the Warren, leaving us fairies to finish the job.

To be honest, I was quite surprised at how well the boys were able to help sort the teeth. As the keeper of memories, I use a complex sorting system that not only organised teeth by continent, but also by family and era and a whole lot of other factors. And I always do this by memory. That's why there are no signs for THE CONTINENT OF THE AMERICAS or THE SMITH FAMILY or something like that.

I guess that's why I was chosen to become the Tooth Fairy: I have a long lasting memory.

So, here we are, back to the present. I could feel a wave of excitement as I slipped one of the last containers back into its rightful place. We were only three more containers away from restoring the palace - who wouldn't be excited? Just a few weeks ago, piles of teeth containers littered the floor of the main tower, but now, only a few containers remained- we were on the home stretch!

I polished the end of the container with my hand and smiled back at the image of a happy girl's face. Slowly, her name resurfaced from an old memory: Rosie Overland. She had some of the prettiest teeth of her generation. I always remember how they glistened like freshly fallen snow. Grinning, I dived back down from the tower and quickly flew over to the remaining unsorted teeth.

I could feel the tsunami of anticipation being generated from my fairies. As I flew back, my grin broadened as four fairies notified me that two more containers had been returned. I could feel my own excitement rise - there was only one left! And that was it! Quickly, I zipped down to the floor of the main tower where the last container remained.

"One left ladies!" I shouted, as I picked up the final container. Thrilled screams filled the air. I could feel my mind slowly drifting into a scatter-brained state as all my fairies' frenzied thoughts flew to my head. I grinned at the response and examined the face of the child these teeth belonged to. A laugh escaped my lips.

Brown hair and eyes filled with wonder: it was Jamie Bennett's! I thought his was sorted back a few days ago, but with the multitude of thoughts I share with all my fairies, I could have easily mistaken. With a giggle of delight, I raced to Jamie's shelf, zooming to the Americas tower, eyes open for the last open slot.

And there it was, a single lonely hole, just waiting to be filled! I flew closer, and closer, container at the ready to slot in. I could feel the anticipation rise from my fairies. Here it was! I didn't care to make a full stop. Without a moment of hesitation, I slipped Jamie's container into its rightful place.

That was finest moment of our lives. An enormous cheer erupted from us. "We did it ladies! Our palace is complete once again!" Another cheer was received and I almost felt dizzy as the thrill hit my head. But I couldn't care but laugh and high five and make loops - lots of loops - in the air, the world turning around and around like a washing machine's insides. Finally, everything was back to normal!

I soared in the energy of my relief, handing out more high fives as I zoomed around the palace. It was a while before the excitement eventually calmed down, but even after that, we still remained giddy. Night had begun to fall, with a full moon of MiM smiling down on us. There was no need for me to urge the girls to get flying: with their spirits in such a high state they were zipping to their duty in seconds.

Soon enough, the palace became quiet. But it wasn't an eerie kind that was caused by fear or loneliness. It was peaceful, blissfully peaceful. I sighed in relief and floated down to the ledges of one of my towers. A beautiful, white glow covered the palace. I smiled and turned to face MiM, my wings lifting me higher to edge closer to the ancient spirit. I could feel my mind returning from its scatterbrained mess, but it was worth the trouble. It was the only weakness of having thousands of mini copies of yourself flying around the world.

I shrugged at the thought and clasped my hands, resting them on my chest. I had never felt so grateful in my life. Everything had finally returned to normal. Everyone was safe, everyone was happy. And it was all I could ask for in a good life as a Guardian.

_Excuse me, Tooth._

Suddenly, I was pulled out of my reverie. It was one of my fairies, calling to me. I unclasped my hands and found Baby Tooth flying up to me, a white tooth in her hand.

"First one back! Good job, Baby Tooth!" I praised cheerfully.

Baby Tooth nodded avidly. But there was something in her eyes that told me something else. I could feel a sense of confusion and hesitation about her. And nervousness too. My smile dropped from my face. Baby Tooth was rarely nervous when carrying a precious tooth. Usually, we're all excited to collect one whilst out on the field.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

I held out my hand for her to sit on, but instead, she placed the tooth gingerly onto it. She then slowly backed a bit away from it, as if she was unsure about its existence. I could feel a frown puckering at my face as I examined the small tooth. I used my right index finger to turn it over, noting how it looked quite aged and dull for a milk tooth.

It was a molar tooth, and by the looks of it, it was one that would be replaced by an adult second premolar. I held the molar closer to my eyes for further inspection. It had probably been located on the jaw and judging by the way the roots stuck out, it might have been struck out instead of gradually loosened.

I held the molar back out to Baby Tooth. Confusion masked my face. "I don't see what's wrong with this one. But it looks like a late bloomer. How old was the child this tooth belonged to?"

Uh oh. Baby Tooth froze at the question. I could see the hesitation in her eyes and I could feel that she didn't know how to answer the question. I didn't like the sense of this uncertainty. What could possibly be wrong?

"Was it an adult?" I asked instead. "You know, some humans don't lose their baby teeth until they're really old, and others don't have an adult replacement for a couple of their milk teeth and have to wait it out." I could feel Baby Tooth's uncertainty fade a fraction. Bingo!

"See, nothing to worry about then!" I said cheerfully. I held out the tooth for her to return it but suddenly she was chirping away, flying around in a frenzied motion. I quickly withdrew my hand and curled my fingers over the tooth.

_No, no, no, Tooth! You don't understand! There's no container for this tooth! We don't have one! And yes, this tooth came from an adult and …_

Baby Tooth's thoughts barrelled into my mind, each one tripping over each other as she frantically tried to explain. Eventually, her nervousness mixed into her words and I could no longer keep track of what she was saying.

I held my free hand out in attempt to slow her down. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" I cried as a headache began to form at the back of my head. "Slow down! Take a deep breath. There's nothing to worry about. We can just make a container for this tooth; we do it all the ti-"

Abruptly, the key line hit me, stopping me in mid-sentence. "Wait, did you just say that this tooth came from an adult?"

Baby Tooth nodded.

"Then there should be a container for it," I reasoned. "We couldn't have lost it. We found every single one."

I could a feel a sense of uncertainty rise within me as the answer slowly revealed itself.

"Whose tooth is this?" I asked slowly, unsure if I wanted my answer to be correct or not.

_It's Pitch's_, replied Baby Tooth.

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: What Does a Tooth Fairy Do!

***Please note that I haven't read the ****_Guardians of Childhood_**** books. All I am working from is my imagination and the ****_Rise of the Guardians_**** wiki. But mainly, I'm using my imagination to make any background information about each character.**

***Also, just a grammar change for all of you wonderful readers to know. I'm adding these - ' ' - to any of Tooth's fairies' words so you know the difference between Tooth's thoughts and a fairy's words. Also, it just helps my Word document to relax about my "poor utilisation" of grammar.**

***Thanks to FreeFallingOnAMusicNumber for discussing the rest of this story with me. I know you don't remember most of what we ended up talking about (it was like, eleven at night when started talking about this right?), but you did assist me in some basic overall story development! Also, you are a great help in identifying grammar mistakes!**

**TOOTH**

_It's Pitch's tooth._

For a long, long while I just stared at the molar in my hand. I didn't know if I wanted to be afraid or curious that I was holding what ultimately remained of the Bogeyman's childhood memories. I continued to eye the tooth in my hand as my shock proceeded to consume me.

It couldn't be. Really. It couldn't be his tooth.

"But … how?" I asked quietly. "How did you get this molar, Baby Tooth?" I could feel my voice rising with my astonishment. It had to be impossible …

For a while, Baby Tooth was quiet. She twisted her tiny hands into knots before answering slowly.

_'Remember when you punched Pitch after giving him a quarter?'_ she inquired hesitantly. '_I didn't realise it at the time, but a tooth came out. I remembered today seeing it falling out of his jaw and had a look. It was still there on the lake. I just thought …' _Baby Tooth paused. I could feel her nervousness spiking just slightly. Her purple and blue eyes flitted nervously away from mine. '_It was a tooth, after all_,' she finished, '_we can't leave a tooth behind, isn't that right, Tooth?'_

Finally understanding, I nodded slowly in agreement. A brief smile surfaced to my face as I remembered the scene. I had put my all into that little punch - it served Pitch right anyway. He stole my fairies … and the teeth … and those memories ... A slight frown slid onto my face as a small wave of anger washed over me.

I had felt so helpless, so distressed, when he kidnapped my fairies! Why … I clenched my hand tightly but then an abrupt prickling sensation sprouted from my palm, staggering my fury. I opened my hand, remembering the tooth and inspected the molar almost irritably.

The tooth was so grey … but so small. I could feel my rage gradually subside as my eyes slowly traced over the molar again and again. Somehow, despite it having a dull colouring and an uneven edge, it looked so delicate. It was fragile - just like any other child's tooth. Just like any other …

I closed my fingers over the tooth and looked up at Baby Tooth.

_… It was a tooth, after all …_

"You did the right thing," I comforted her, my fury resolved. "It's our job to protect the memories of its bearers, whether they're good or bad."

_And enemy spirits are not an exception, _I thought. _A childhood memory is a memory._

I placed my free hand over my closed one, as if on instinct to protect the precious tooth, and released a slow breath. It was time to do my job.

_'What are we going to do with Pitch's tooth?'_ inquired Baby Tooth.

"We'll treat it like any other tooth," I informed her. "We'll have to store it."

With that said, I immediately flew to the Main Tower, with Baby Tooth right at my shoulder. I didn't know how I felt at the moment. I still wasn't certain whether I was frightened, nervous or even excited about what I was going to do.

The Main Tower wasn't too far off from where I was, making it a quick flight. It was the smallest building of my palace and was located right in the centre. It held no storage units, so it had never grown since the palace had been built. However, despite its dwarfish size, it was the most vital building of all.

The Main Tower was almost like a rendezvous for every one of us fairies. It was the building that provided coins for us to deliver and where I mostly gave out my orders to collect teeth. It was also the tower where I made new containers.

With well practiced ease, I flew into the Main Tower and hovered over to the Container Wall. It was located on the inside of the Main Tower and it only consisted of a board and a receiving slot. Despite its simplistic demeanour, it really was fairly complicated.

The board was a large keyboard full of various switches, dials and buttons. It was around a meter square in size and had been mounted onto the Main Tower's wall. It wasn't too big or too small for me to work with, but it had been darn hard to figure out when I had first started collecting teeth. A smile surfaced onto my face as I remembered those early years. The first few containers I made where all trial and error - mostly error, actually - and it took me a few months to understand how the board worked.

Thank goodness I now knew how to use it.

Bringing myself back to the present, I expertly reached out my hand to pull the first switch: the signaller to let the board know I'm making a new container. A familiar _brrrnnggg!_ happily reached my ears as the wall awakened to do its duty. A roll of excitement rippled through me, loosening some of my tension with the arrival of a familiar task. Making containers was one of the best things about being the Tooth Fairy!

"When was the last time I made a new container?" I asked Baby Tooth nonchalantly, as I moved my hand forward to begin the custom-designing process. All of the containers were identical save for the picture at its front, so there was no need for me to press any instructions to create the container - the board did that of its own accord.

I always loved the fact that no child's face ever looked the same, even if they were identical siblings. As I made a container, I could always see the child's face, so I knew - without a doubt - what they looked like. I don't really know how I have these kinds of visions: I've questioned it in the past, but I've never found an answer. Only MiM knows.

_Wait a minute._

I quickly withdrew my outstretched hand as I realised the first hiccup in our mission. This time, I wasn't going to receive any visions for this container: this tooth was for a spirit, not a human child.

So what picture should I put on it?

I frowned a little at the question, a hint of panic sparking within me. Pitch was much older than me by hundreds of years. He had existed before the Dark Ages and that meant before I was even born. I wouldn't have known what he looked like as a child. I've only ever seen him as the fearful spirit I knew today.

A twinge of sadness and guilt sparked quietly within me as I realised that I barely knew anything else about the infamous Bogeyman. All I knew was that he was the spirit of fear and that his powers could easily slip out of control, causing nightmares and intense cases of fright. He lived in the shadows and travelled quickly by them.

I didn't know what he looked like as a human, or how he became the very personification of fear. Did he have a human name before all of this? How about a family? I wasn't even sure what continent he lived on during his human life.

As the questions rolled in, one by one, one thought struck me the hardest as it came to my mind: did he remember his human life?

As I digested that question, I felt a sort of guilty grievance rise from within me. Any occasion where I had met Pitch was when I was fighting him or arguing with him. I've never had the chance or even given the thought to understand him.

Was he like Jack all over again? Lost soul in the sea of time, with no one to talk to or even see him?

_'Tooth, what's wrong?'_

Abruptly, I was snapped out of my thoughts. I turned to face Baby Tooth. She looked worried.

_'Tooth?'_

_Get back to reality Tooth. Just take it one step at a time. _I blinked twice to make sure my mind was settled before averting Baby Tooth's question and asking her instead: "What picture should I put on this container?"

Baby Tooth was immediately stumped by the question, just like I was.

_'I have no idea. We don't know what Pitch looked like as a child. Do we even need to have a picture of him as a child?'_

"Good point: he's an adult," I concurred. I could feel my usual self beginning to resurface again. "You know what? I'll just put a picture of the Pitch we know today. That'll be alright, wouldn't it?"

Baby Tooth nodded quickly. _'That will do.'_

Almost automatically, I resumed my task at the board and began pulling and pushing the gadgets I knew I needed. I immersed myself in the task, making sure I gave a cautious thought about anything before performing another step.

But in all honesty, I didn't want to think about those questions at that moment. Now wasn't the time.

As I methodically went through my task, my mind was filled with the buzz, hums and clicks of the board. It drowned out anything else my mind was capable of receiving: my fairies' chatter, the soft whispers of the mountain breeze, my own thoughts …

_Clunk._

I blinked twice, realising that my hand was resting on a pushed button. It was the last step in creating a new container. I had finished it. That was it … What have I done?

_Congratulations Tooth, you have just made a teeth container for the Bogeyman_. The thought whirled around incomprehensively in my mind. Time seemed to still as I turned my eyes to the receiving slot. I was oblivious to any sound that surrounded me at that moment. All I could hear was my own hesitant thoughts, making a ruckus in my mind.

There it was: a teeth container for Pitch.

Shouldn't I be frightened? Or even the least bit nervous? I wasn't even sure.

Slowly, I forced my hand to grasp the container's end and gently pulled it out from the slot. I gingerly turned the container over in my free hand - I was still holding the molar in the other after all this time. The container felt just like any other, but the thought of its owner seemed to make it darker and heavier to my senses. Wordlessly, I rotated the container to see the picture I had imprinted on its front.

Well, it really did look like Pitch: it even had the same scowl.

A soft laugh threatened to escape from me, but somehow, I couldn't let it go. Instead, I quickly swiped my index finger over the top of the container. With a dazzling smooth display the container's top disappeared and revealed its cushioned interior. Gently, I rolled the molar forward in my hand so that it was wedged between my index finger and thumb and placed it into its rightful place.

I allowed myself a brief moment to have a look at the little tooth, like I did with every new tooth set I made. It was always such a small start for every new set. Just one tooth to begin with, but more teeth always soon followed over the years.

However, this set won't ever be completed. It will just be this little tooth and that will be all; just one precious little memory that happened to survive the storm of time.

I let out a sigh and closed the container shut. My eyes watched the ripple of gold diamonds as they hastily covered the opening once again. I clasped the gold box with both my hands and held it close to me.

Now I needed to store it.

But where?

I turned to Baby Tooth for some advice. "Where should I store this?" I asked her. This situation almost threw me off my track - I've always known where to store a container, but this one, obviously, was kind of different …

Baby Tooth shrugged her shoulders. _'I have no idea Tooth! But you should store it soon. The others will be arriving soon.'_

I nodded in agreement - I could hear their thoughts. They signalled that they'll be reporting back in about five minute tops. And that wouldn't be long. Even though my fairies were still a part of me, I wanted to keep Pitch's tooth as low profile as possible. Somehow, this situation felt as if only Baby Tooth and I were only meant to know about it. And judging by what Baby Tooth just mentioned, I knew she thought the same too.

"Okay," I started, holding the container tighter in my hands. "We can guess this container can go into the Europe tower because that's practically where Pitch began, isn't that right? But then again, he could travel all over world through the shadows, so that means he can't really have a general home location like we do. He's like Sandy, he just travels everywhere." My eyes widened as I realised that I couldn't really sort this container like the others either. I voiced my thoughts: "We can't store this like the others."

Baby Tooth gave me a thoughtful look; she came to the same conclusion too. _'It's a spirit's. We can't sort his like Jack's and North's because we collected his tooth when he is a spirit… We need a category that is exempt from all the sorting.'_

"But we don't have o-" I stopped myself mid-sentence as a solution came to my mind. _My_ teeth were exempt! "My teeth Baby Tooth!"

Hastily, I shot up from the container area to the top floor of the Main Tower. It was a private room of mine that the fairies rarely disturbed me in. It was a small circular section right at the top of the Main Tower and provided a complete view of the castle in the north, east and west directions. There was a tiny, closed storage wall in the south end of the room: it was where I stored my own teeth.

I wasted no time to get to my room - I didn't even think to check if Baby Tooth was following me. I hurriedly flew to the south wall and flung opened the double doors of my personal storage cupboard. But suddenly I froze on the spot as I woke up from my sudden mad rush.

I only kept my most treasured personal items in this cupboard. Beside my teeth, the only other item here was a small gold trinket my first believer gave to me before he passed away.

Should I really store Pitch's teeth _here_?

Now I was thinking I was crazy to even think of this.

But then I didn't have any better ideas.

That was good enough.

Without a second thought, I deposited the container onto the bottom shelf and slammed the storage doors shut.

"Ahhh … ha, ha, ha." A distressed - but somehow relieved - laugh bubbled up from within me. I was so confused. What on earth was I doing? MiM help me.

_'Tooth! The others are here! What are your orders?'_

I snapped myself from my reverie as my mind recognised the distinct sound of my fairies' chatter. _Time to get back to work. Nothing happened. Nothing happened._

"Three in San Francisco, four in Madrid and one in Darwin!" I called out the orders as soon as they came to my mind. And with that, my fairies were occupied once again.

The silence enveloped the palace - Baby Tooth and I were the only ones there at that moment -, but it was a comfortable one that had no need to be broken. But in the quietness, my mind was transforming into another panicked storm.

Should I tell the Guardians about Pitch's Tooth?

***Chapter 3 will be arriving in a few weeks. Since my holidays are now over, chapters may not be updated as speedily as the first two. ****Please be patient!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews! They really helped to motivate me to keep this fanfiction going! And a big THANKS to those Deviants from Deviant Art who actually looked up this fanfiction! I really appreciate it (even if you didn't review) and you know who you are.**

**Thanks for reviewing: Cyber-Akistu, Fey Beauty, Leigh Tate, Guest, Dice, Evelyn Carol, Anon, The Bloodless, Little-Angel-22, Zippo, FreeFallingOnAMusicNumber, Serori, bedstories, Vija-Thorn and meep.**


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